Air Force Approves Civilian Flights From Hindon Base In Ghaziabad

Hindon Air Force Base is located close to Ghaziabad and will have soon host a civilian enclave, the aviation secretary said, adding talks with GMR Infrastructure Ltd-led Delhi Airport are also on to seek approvals.

The Indian Air Force has agreed to allow the use of its Hindon airbase for civilian flights under the government's regional connectivity scheme (RCS), civil aviation secretary R N Choubey said today. The Ministry will now have to talk to Delhi airport as current rules do not allow civil operations from an airport which is 150 km from an existing airport.

The operation of civil aircraft from the Ghaziabad-based airbase, on the outskirts of Delhi, are likely to start during the winter schedule which comes into effect from the last Sunday of October. The second round of bidding is expected to see a rise in RCS flights as IndiGo has placed order for turboprops and will participate in it. SpiceJet has also ordered more turboprops for increasing its regional flights. Mumbai, however, does not have any such option and its aerial connectivity will remain choked till it gets the second airport five to six years later.